January 19, 2018

A Grateful Heart

What a lovely week it has been for me, friends. My dear hubby and I celebrated our twenty-ninth wedding anniversary and just a few days after that, it was my birthday. So it has been one big party around here for days, ha!

It is actually raining here this morning, and it is 40 degrees (F). I am really hoping it begins to snow, as the weather forecast predicts, so I can strap on the snowshoes my hubby got me for my birthday and give them a go! Our one-third mile long hilly driveway will be perfect for snowshoeing, I think.

Some of my children made the birthday gifts they gave me, which I loved. (you can have a look at their crafty-ness here) And one of my older girls baked my birthday cake. I chose carrot cake this year, it was delicious!

And since our oldest daughter spent the week with us, I was able to enjoy a birthday run with *both* of the dogs I love... her dog Juno and my sweet puppy Jack. I wanted to run for forty-nine minutes in honor of my forty-ninth birthday, and I did!

And friends, I am *thrilled* to begin my next trip around the sun completely free of the eating disorder and exercise obsession thoughts and behaviors that I gave heed to for way too long. I am amazed that my recovery is going so wonderfully well and I give *all* the glory for that to the Lord.

Here are a few more things from this week's ongoing gratitude list...

:: Playing the piano. The other day, one of my girls and I spent a good chunk of the afternoon playing simple duets together on our piano. It was delightful.

:: Our ducks. They are the *happiest* of homestead critters. My puppy Jack needed to go outside in the wee hours of the morning, and as I stood in the yard waiting for him to do his business I could hear the ducks quacking softly to one another within the safety of their coop. Ducks are awesome.

:: Simple foods. As I was planning our menu for the upcoming weeks, I was grateful that we enjoy so many simple, basic, homemade, real foods. Things like beans and potatoes and whole grains and vegetables. I do find our meals revolve around those ingredients, mostly... especially since our hunters did not harvest an animal during hunting season this year.

:: Family fun night. It is a tradition we began years and years ago... when our adult children were yet small. Our close-knit tribe does spend a lot of time together anyway, but family fun night is more of an intentional togetherness. We have homemade pizza and enjoy a planned activity... a game, a movie... it is usually simple and frugal, but we all look forward to it. I am glad we have kept it going for all of these years.

I do my best to avoid the negative news stories that are so prevalent these days... and the glimpses of them that I do get remind me that life is indeed a gift that we are all given and it is important to choose to be joyful and kind and considerate and grateful.

It is my prayer that more people everywhere will choose just that! Let's be kind.
Thank you for coming by my blog this week, I do appreciate all who take the time to read the snippets I share here and on Run Hoop Julie. I gave my blogs a bit of a makeover as a birthday gift to myself... I changed the colors and fonts, just for fun. I hope you like their fresh new looks as much as I do! {smile}

Every holiday season for as long as I can remember, we have purchased a gingerbread house kit and extra candy and spent some family time ...

Hello, I'm Julie ~

Kevin's happy wifey for almost thirty years, mama of eight blessings, born-again disciple of Jesus, joy-filled homeMaker, gentle homesteader on our twenty-acre mountainside farm, long-time homeschooler, skirt-wearing and head covering Christian, body positive fitness enthusiast and hoopdancer, crafter and maker of lots of things. Lover of words and wildflowers, goats and coffee and yarn. So thankful I am for our big family's happy-busy, frugal, debt-free, homemade lifestyle and that I am blessed to be a stay-at-homestead mama, helping my dear hubby and blissfully enjoying a creative and authentic simple life while abiding in the sunshine of Christ's love. God is so good! It brings me great joy to share snippets of it all on my three blogs when I can find a quiet(ish) moment.

simple snippets

It is unanimous. When asked to name their favorite part of the festivities of the weekend, each of the children (without hesitation) said the same thing... decorating together and then eating the *entire* candy-covered gingerbread house for a sweet snack later that same day. A new tradition (the same-day eating of our gingerbread creativity!) is born, I think!

encouraging words

"and that you make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, even as we instructed you; that you may walk properly toward those who are outside, and may have need of nothing."

thank you for visiting!

please note . . .

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